Bill Text: IL SB1301 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that payments made by the State Board of Education or a school board to a charter school shall be prorated and paid at the same percentage as general State aid payments to school districts in a fiscal year. Makes related changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-24 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB1301 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB1301-Introduced.html

---

99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 SB1301 Introduced 2/18/2015, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
105 ILCS 5/27A-11
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that payments made by the State Board of Education or a school board to a charter school shall be prorated and paid at the same percentage as general State aid payments to school districts in a fiscal year. Makes related changes.
LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
SB1301 LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
27A-9 and 27A-11 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
(a) A charter may be granted for a period not less than 5
and not more than 10 school years. A charter may be renewed in
incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years.
(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
shall contain:
(1) A report on the progress of the charter school in
achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
standards, content standards, and other terms of the
initial approved charter proposal; and
(2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of
administration, instruction, and other spending categories
for the charter school that is understandable to the
general public and that will allow comparison of those
costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
in a format required by the State Board.

SB1301 - 2 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
(c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
of this law:
(1) Committed a material violation of any of the
conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
charter.
(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
standards identified in the charter.
(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
fiscal management.
(4) Violated any provision of law from which the
charter school was not exempted.
In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter
school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to
revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to
the local school board or the Commission, whichever is
applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a
timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or
the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If
the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering
entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement
the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the

SB1301 - 3 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in
situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or
education of the charter school's students is at risk, the
revocation shall take place at the end of a school year.
Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly
shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that
is less than 2 years in duration.
(d) (Blank).
(e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the
Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a
local board's decision if the Commission finds that the charter
school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with
this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students
it is designed to serve. The Commission may condition the
granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school
of funding in an amount less than that requested in the
proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions
of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the
Administrative Review Law.
(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission
shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall
perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by

SB1301 - 4 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether
the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent
with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved
proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this
Article. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of
charter school pupils resident in a school district to that
district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding
to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling
such students. The Commission shall require the charter school
to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be
deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05
notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section
regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The
State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the
district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the
charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter
school. All payments made by the State Board to a charter
school pursuant to this subsection (f) shall be prorated and
paid at the same percentage as general State aid payments to
school districts in that fiscal year.
(g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the
student enrollment for each of its charter schools.
(h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal
or State aid attributable to a student with a disability

SB1301 - 5 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
attending the school.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)
(105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.
(a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in a
charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of the
school district within which the pupil resides. Each charter
school (i) shall determine the school district in which each
pupil who is enrolled in the charter school resides, (ii) shall
report the aggregate number of pupils resident of a school
district who are enrolled in the charter school to the school
district in which those pupils reside, and (iii) shall maintain
accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed
sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8 notwithstanding
any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of
instruction and teacher certification.
(b) Except for a charter school established by referendum
under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract,
the charter school and the local school board shall agree on
funding and any services to be provided by the school district
to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is
to receive from the local school board for a school year shall
be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of the
installment for the first quarter being made not later than
July 1, unless the charter establishes a different payment

SB1301 - 6 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
schedule. If However, if a charter school dismisses a pupil
from the charter school after receiving a quarterly payment,
the charter school shall return to the school district, on a
quarterly basis, the prorated portion of public funding
provided for the education of that pupil for the time the
student is not enrolled at the charter school. Likewise, if a
pupil transfers to a charter school between quarterly payments,
the school district shall provide, on a quarterly basis, a
prorated portion of the public funding to the charter school to
provide for the education of that pupil. All payments made by a
local school board to a charter school pursuant to this
subsection (b) shall be prorated and paid at the same
percentage as general State aid payments to school districts in
that fiscal year.
All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school
district including, but not limited to, rent, food services,
custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to
negotiation between a charter school and the local school board
and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to this
subsection (b); provided that the local school board shall not
attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a charter
school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for whom a
district is not required to provide transportation under the
criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.
In no event shall the funding as calculated prior to any

SB1301 - 7 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
proration pursuant to this subsection (b) be less than 75% or
more than 125% of the school district's per capita student
tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the
district who are enrolled in the charter school.
It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither a
financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
establishment of a charter school.
The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees.
Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall
be retained by the charter school.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
proportionate share of State and federal resources generated by
students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
share of moneys generated under other federal or State
categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
serving students eligible for that aid.
(d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized to
accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the
charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or grants
in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor;
however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted by the
governing body if it is subject to any condition contrary to
applicable law or contrary to the terms of the contract between

SB1301 - 8 - LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b
the charter school and the local school board. Charter schools
shall be encouraged to solicit and utilize community volunteer
speakers and other instructional resources when providing
instruction on the Holocaust and other historical events.
(e) (Blank).
(f) The Commission shall provide technical assistance to
persons and groups preparing or revising charter applications.
(g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each
charter school shall refund to the local board of education all
unspent funds.
(h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
receipt of funds from the local school board.
(Source: P.A. 98-640, eff. 6-9-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14;
revised 10-1-14.)